The Book of the Dead | Page 5

indicate
the contents of the principal Chapters. No one papyrus can be cited as a
final authority, for no payprus contains all the Chapters, 190 in number,
of the Theban Recension, and in no two papyri are the selection and

sequence of the Chapters identical, or is the treatment of the vignettes
the same.

CHAPTER IV
Thoth, the Author of the Book of the Dead.
Thoth, in Egyptian Tchehuti or Tehuti, who has already been
mentioned as the author of the texts that form the PER-T EM HRU, or
Book of the Dead, was believed by the Egyptians to have been the heart
and mind of the Creator, who was in very early times in Egypt called
by the natives "Pautti," and by foreigners "Ra." Thoth was also the
"tongue" of the Creator, and he at all times voiced the will of the great
god, and spoke the words which commanded every being and thing in
heaven and in earth to come into existence. His words were almighty
and once uttered never remained without effect. He framed the laws by
which heaven, earth and all the heavenly bodies are maintained; he
ordered the courses of the sun, moon, and stars; he invented drawing
and design and the arts, the letters of the alphabet and the art of writing,
and the science of mathematics. At a very early period he was called
the "scribe (or secretary) of the Great Company of the Gods," and as he
kept the celestial register of the words and deeds of men, he was
regarded by many generations of Egyptians as the "Recording Angel."
He was the inventor of physical and moral Law and became the
personification of JUSTICE; and as the Companies of the Gods of
Heaven, and Earth, and the Other World appointed him to "weigh the
words and deeds" of men, and his verdicts were unalterable, he became
more powerful in the Other World than Osiris himself. Osiris owed his
triumph over Set in the Great Judgment Hall of the Gods entirely to the
skill of Thoth of the "wise mouth" as an Advocate, and to his influence
with the gods in heaven. And every follower of Osiris relied upon the
advocacy of Thoth to secure his acquittal on the Day of Judgment, and
to procure for him an everlasting habitation in the Kingdom of Osiris.

CHAPTER V
Thoth and Osiris.
The Egyptians were not satisfied with the mere possession of the texts
of Thoth, when their souls were being weighed in the Great Scales in
the Judgment Hall of Osiris, but they also wished Thoth to act as their
Advocate on this dread occasion and to prove their innocence as he had
proved that of Osiris before the great gods in prehistoric times.
According to a very ancient Egyptian tradition, the god Osiris, who was
originally the god of the principle of the fertility of the Nile, became
incarnate on earth as the son of Geb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the
Sky-goddess. He had two sisters, Isis and Nephthys, and one brother,
Set; he married Isis and Set married Nephthys. Geb set Osiris on the
throne of Egypt, and his rule was beneficent and the nation was happy
and prosperous. Set marked this and became very jealous of his brother,
and wished to slay him so that he might seize his throne and take
possession of Isis, whose reputation as a devoted and loving wife and
able manager filled the country. By some means or other Set did
contrive to kill Osiris: according to one story he killed him by the side
of a canal at Netat, near Abydos, and according to another he caused
him to be drowned. Isis, accompanied by her sister Nephthys, went to
Netat and rescued the body of her lord, and the two sisters, with the
help of Anpu, a son of Ra the Sun-god, embalmed it. They then laid the
body in a tomb, and a sycamore tree grew round it and flourished over
the grave. A tradition which is found in the Pyramid Texts states that
before Osiris was laid in his tomb, his wife Isis, by means of her
magical powers, succeeded in restoring him to life temporarily, and
made him beget of her an heir, who was called Horus. After the burial
of Osiris, Isis retreated to the marshes in the Delta, and there she
brought forth Horus. In order to avoid the persecution of Set, who on
one occasion succeeded in killing Horus by the sting of a scorpion, she
fled from place to place in the Delta, and lived a very unhappy life for
some years. But Thoth helped her in all her difficulties and provided
her with the words of power which restored Horus to life, and enabled
her to pass